The present invention relates to a solid preparation filling apparatus for filling a solid preparation (the solid preparation indicates all the hardened preparations such as a tablet, a capsule, a pill, a troche and others hereinafter) designated by a prescription in a hospital and the like.
In a hospital and the like, a tablet packing machine such as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-1991 (A61J3/00) has been conventionally used in order to pack multiple kinds of tablets prescribed by a medical physician for each dosage to be provided to a patient. However, since this packing system ejects the tablets for each dosage and collects them by using a hopper or a conveyer for package, it requires a long period of time including a waiting time for collecting the tablets until the packaging is completed. Further, the tablets are collected exclusively dependent upon the gravitational force by using such a hopper or a conveyer, which results in increase in size of the apparatus.
On the other hand, there is also a tablet filling apparatus which fills the prescribed tablets in a container such as a bottle (or a bag) in accordance with each type of the tablets so that they are provided to a patient. In case of this tablet filling apparatus, a plurality of tablet cases each of which contains therein the tablets in accordance with each type are deeply inclined forward and arranged in the form of a locker; an ejection mechanism for ejecting the tablets in the tablet case is provided in each tablet case; and the tablets in the tablet case designated based on a prescription are ejected by each ejection mechanism.
In such a tablet filling apparatus, since the tablets are not packed in accordance with each dosage, the tablets can be filled in a shorter period of time than the above-described tablet packing machine. However, this apparatus requires such an operation as that an operator goes to a front of the tablet case with a container in his/her hand and fills the tablets in the container from the ejection mechanism, and hence the operation for filling the tablets in respective types of containers becomes extremely complicated if a number of types of the tablets is large, thereby taking much time.
In addition, since the plural tablet cases are arranged on a wall in the form of a locker, downsizing of the overall apparatus which has been demanded in the prior art tablet packing machine can not be achieved.
Thus, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 192367/1998, the present applicant has developed a structure in which a rotating plate is provided on the lower side of a plurality of aligned tablet cases, a plurality of storage partitions being formed to the rotating plate, tablets ejected from a tablet case being put in a corresponding predetermined storage partition under the tablet case by rotation of the rotating plate, the tablets being reserved and filled from a discharge port into a container.
According to such a structure, the tablets can be filled at one position, and the vertical dimension of the entire apparatus can be minimized as compared with the conventional conveyer type or locker type apparatus. However, since the rotating plate rotates, the tablets are caused to jump in another storage partition from a clearance (gap) formed around the rotating plate, which disadvantageously generate mixture of a different type of medicine.
In order to avoid this, the clearance between the rotating plate and a member therearound must be strictly defined for design/manufacture, resulting in a problem such that the productivity is deteriorated and the cost is increased.
In order to eliminate the above-described drawbacks in the prior art, in a solid preparation filling apparatus for filling a solid preparation such as a tablet in a predetermined container, it is an object of the present invention to maintain minimization of the apparatus, simplify the structure thereof, assuredly prevent mixture of another preparation and improve the assembling work property.
The solid preparation filling apparatus according to the present invention includes: a plurality of tablet cases for accommodating therein solid preparations in accordance with each type; a plurality of hoppers which are aligned under each tablet case in the corresponding manner and receive the solid preparations ejected from each tablet case; a discharge port formed at a lowermost portion of each hopper; a plurality of holding cells which are arranged under these hoppers and rotated and moved on a circumference where the discharge port of each hopper is presented; a shutter for opening/closing a lower end outlet of the holding cell; a guide portion for guiding the solid preparations into a predetermined container; and a control device for ejecting the solid preparations from the tablet case accommodating therein a designated type of solid preparation based on predetermined prescription data, wherein the control device associates the upper end inlet of the holding cell with the discharge port of the hopper which receives the ejected solid preparation to accommodate the solid preparations falling from the tablet case in a predetermined holding cell by rotating and moving the holding cell to adjust its position when ejecting the solid preparations from the tablet case, and the holding cell is rotated and moved so that the outlet thereof is matched with the guide portion when filling in the container, thereby opening the shutter.
Further, in the solid preparation filling apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter opens/closes an inlet of the guide portion.
Additionally, in the solid preparation filling apparatus according to the present invention, a cover which can be opened/closed without restraint is provided at an outlet of the guide portion.
Furthermore, the solid preparation filling apparatus according to the present invention includes: a plurality of tablet cases for accommodating therein solid preparations in accordance with each type; a plurality of hoppers which are aligned under each tablet case in the corresponding manner and receive the solid preparations ejected from each tablet case; a discharge port formed at a lowermost portion of each hopper; and a plurality of holding cells which are arranged under these hoppers and rotated/moved on a circumference where the discharge port of the hopper is presented; a shutter for opening/closing the lower end outlet of the holding cell; and filling means which guides and fills the solid preparations ejected from the holding cell to a predetermined container, wherein the upper end inlet of the holding cell is associated with the discharge port of the hopper for receiving the ejected solid preparations to accommodate the solid preparations falling from the tablet case in a predetermined holding cell by rotating and moving the holding cell to adjust its position when ejecting the solid preparations from the tablet case, and the holding cell is rotated and moved so that its outlet is matched with the filling means to open the shutter when filling in the container, the holding cell and the shutter constituting a holding unit, a plurality of holding units being disposed on the rotating plate which rotates under the hoppers.
Additionally, in the solid preparation filling apparatus according to the present invention, shutter driving means for opening/closing the shutter is arranged in such a manner that the holding cell can be detachably engaged with the shutter of the holding unit matched with the filling means without interfering the rotation and movement of the holding unit caused by rotation of the rotating plate.
Moreover, in the solid preparation according to the present invention, shutter opening/closing detecting means for detecting opening/closing of the shutter is provided in addition to the above.